Joy is all around us, according to the bestselling South Korean author. Here’s what he has learned from a long and often hard life
In nearly 90 years, Rhee Kun Hoo has learned a lot about surviving and thriving. The South Korean psychiatrist turned writer lived through typhoid, war, family bankruptcy and poverty before he was into his teens. In his 20s he was jailed for his role in pro-democracy protests. Throughout his medical career, he helped transform South Korea’s treatment of mental health, while raising four children. He and his wife now live among their children and grandchildren in a communal building in Seoul.
He is at home there when we talk over Zoom, with the help of a translator and an aide who repeats every question to him because his hearing is not what it was. Every so often a cat walks past the window in the garden behind him.
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